Red X safety initiative launched in West Yorkshire

A red X response vehicle carrying automatic number plate recognition cameras is being used as part of the joint initiative between Highways England and West Yorkshire Police to raise awareness and improve compliance and safety. The initiative is part of Highways England’s ongoing campaign to raise awareness about smart motorways. CCTV footage has also been released showing an incident on the M1 near Wakefield where a van narrowly avoided striking a worker and a stationary vehicle when it travelled in a clos
September 16, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

A red X response vehicle carrying automatic number plate recognition cameras is being used as part of the joint initiative between 8101 Highways England and West Yorkshire Police to raise awareness and improve compliance and safety.

The initiative is part of Highways England’s ongoing campaign to raise awareness about smart motorways. CCTV footage has also been released showing an incident on the M1 near Wakefield where a van narrowly avoided striking a worker and a stationary vehicle when it travelled in a closed lane with a red X above.

A red X is used on all smart motorways to close a lane when there has been a breakdown or accident. The closure is in place for the safety of drivers and also Highways England’s traffic officers and emergency services that may be working in the lanes ahead.

The red X response vehicle being used in West Yorkshire will attend incidents on the M1 between junctions 39 and 42 and on the M62 between junctions 25 to 30, capturing images of vehicles driving in a closed lane.

Letters will then be sent from West Yorkshire Police to drivers who did not comply with the red X to advise them about the risks to safety. A similar awareness event was carried out on the M25 back in 2013/14. More than 700 letters were issued and only four per cent of those identified were spotted travelling under a red X again.

Highways England’s operations manager Rob Beckitt said: “A red X above a lane indicates it is closed because of a breakdown or accident. It is used to keep drivers, our traffic officers and the emergency services safe. Hopefully our initiative will raise awareness of the red X sign, and protect people driving and working on our motorways.”

Sergeant Gary Roper of West Yorkshire Police said: “West Yorkshire Police is committed to working with our partner agencies to improve road safety. This initiative provides the opportunity to educate those drivers who contravene the Red X signals, however it should be noted that prosecution remains an option for those drivers who continue to ignore the Red X sign.”

Urban Traffic Control Air Quality & Weather Systems

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • TxDOT spends $500,000 on I-35 safe driving signs
    August 22, 2014
    In a bid to make drivers aware of the many major road construction projects being carried out in Central Texas, the Texas Department of Transportation began a new program to encourage Interstate 35 drivers and remind them to ‘Be Safe. Drive Smart’. Thirty-one signs were installed between Denton and San Antonio, with 11 of them in the Waco district, TxDOT spokesman Ken Roberts said Wednesday. The large orange signs are part of a US$500,000 campaign to emphasise driver safety, cut down on accidents and
    Read More
  • Canadian authorities convinced of enforcement safety benefits
    November 28, 2012
    Cost-benefit analysis invariably finds highly in favour of speed and red light enforcement, particularly so in Edmonton in the Alberta province of Canada, where authorities need no convincing of the merits of road safety engineering. Justification of enforcement efforts on economic grounds has been reinforced this year, by a study of the costs and benefits of red light enforcement. New York-based economic research firm John Dunham & Associates carried out this latest analysis for American Traffic Solutions
    Read More
  • Use of ITS technology grows more prevalent in safety applications
    January 30, 2012
    Transportation agencies and governments are using ITS technology to protect critical infrastructure from terrorist attack and other threats to economic security and public safety. Andrew Bardin Williams reports. It is no secret that we live in a potentially dangerous world. Terrorism as seen on 9/11 in the United States, subsequent attacks in London, Moscow and Madrid and other acts of violence across the developing world have made vigilance the watchword for ensuring security. Key infrastructure is now bei
    Read More
  • AECOM appointed technical partner for A303 improvements scheme
    April 12, 2017
    Global infrastructure services firm AECOM has secured an eight-year contract with Highways England to work as its technical partner for the major A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down improvements scheme. AECOM, working with its supply chain partners Mace and Mouchel, will deliver a range of multidisciplinary services to support all phases of the project, which will upgrade the eight-mile stretch of the A303 from single to dual carriageway to create a high-quality, reliable route to the south west, improve safet
    Read More

Highlighted Content